The 1,200-acre park near Angola, Indiana, is one of the few sites with a public refrigerated
toboggan course. Guests can also stay at the comfortable Potawatami Inn at the park.

GETTING THERE

The park is about 200 miles northwest of Columbus. Allow four hours for the drive – if the
highways are clear.

LEARNING MORE

For information about Pokagon State Park call 260-833-2012 or visit www.dnr.IN.gov. The
toboggan run is open Friday evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays through March 2. For
information about the run, including its history, visit
www.tobogganrun.com.

The three of us were staying at the lovely Potawatomi Inn at Pokagon State Park, about 75 miles
west of Toledo. We were thoroughly enjoying the heated indoor swimming pool, our comfortable room
and the lodge restaurant — which, like the rest of the inn, is decorated in a birch bark and Indian
theme absolutely appropriate to a region that was once the center of Potawatomi tribal life.

In truth, though, we had made the drive to the northeastern Indiana park for one reason: the
toboggan track.

Pokagon, a 1,200-acre park, has one of the few refrigerated toboggan runs in the Midwest. Each
year, thousands of visitors shoot down the icy twin tracks for a quarter-mile run, then haul their
toboggans back to the 30-foot-tall starting tower to do it again.

It’s a wonderful winter activity for families, as my 8-year-old twins and I had learned the
previous day.

We arrived in the late afternoon after a hair-raising five-hour drive over snowy highways. (The
drive back, after the plows had been through, took about 3½ hours.) Although I was exhausted from
driving the slick highways, I was as eager as the kids to try the toboggan run.

The refrigeration system means the track, open through early March, is ready for runs no matter
the weather

— unless the temperatures fall dangerously low.

The forecast called for bitter cold the next day — one reason we wanted to get some runs in that
first evening.

Toboggans must be rented at the park. All toboggans — including the four-person vehicles — are
rented for $12.84 an hour (including tax). On Fridays, visitors can rent two and get a third free.
Out-of-state visitors also pay a park entry fee of $7 per vehicle.

The run begins at the top of the tower, with a bit of limberness required to get on a sled. The
forward-most riders cross their legs in front, with the riders behind wrapping their legs around
the person in front.

Then comes a short safety lecture: Don’t lean or rock; don’t wave; don’t reach for your hat when
it flies off.

Suddenly — whoosh! — you’re off.

The toboggan whips down the inclined chute through its raised, ice-coated track; over short
rises and dips; through a lovely wooded glade; and under a couple of picturesque bridges (not that
you’re noticing the scenery, at least not for the first few runs) until, about 30 seconds after the
run starts, the sled comes to a gradual stop and you leap off ready to go again.

The run ends near the inn parking lot. Visitors who take the right type of vehicle, such as a
pickup or an SUV with a tailgate, can load their toboggan into the back and drive it back to the
tower. But most tobogganers carried their sleds — not too taxing of a task for two or more porters
of middle-school age or older.

I found myself wishing I had been able to bring the twins’ mom or older brothers for
toboggan-carrying duties. The haul back to the tower, then up the dozens of steps is long. Katey
and Charles were willing to help, but lugging the vehicle solo proved easier (though by no means
easy).

I told myself that the exercise was helping me appreciate the exhilaration of the downhill run
to come. But I think I would have been equally exhilarated without the lugging.

Near the end of the track, an electric sign flashes the speed of the ride as the toboggans pass
a radar gun. The first night, our runs topped out at 30 mph. Beating that mark became our goal.

Doing so would have to wait until the next day — assuming the weather cooperated.

“I hope we can go again tomorrow!” both children exclaimed.

Fortunately, the mercury climbed throughout the early morning, and, by 11 a.m., we were back in
action on the toboggan track.

I opted to rent a four-person toboggan that was lighter than our three-person sled of the
previous day. The extra runner length, I suspect, kept us from hitting 30 mph. We topped out the
second day at 29 but more often clocked in at 27.

That 3-mph difference is a big deal, especially when you’re 8, but it gave us a goal for our
next visit.

We spent about an hour each day on the toboggan course, making three runs our first night and
five the second day.

The morning crowds were slightly larger, but the park opened the second, parallel toboggan
track, making the line at the top of the tower disappear.

After our runs, we visited the warming center, which serves snacks and drinks and offers a good
place to watch others on toboggan runs.

Being an old person, I prudently ordered hot chocolate. My kids, though, insisted on ice
cream.